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Another light week, and a sad, sad day for comicdom. I’m picking up one book this week, ATLAS #5, which brings that series to a close. Since Jeff Parker has brought Jimmy, Ken, and pals with him on other books he’s written I don’t think this will be the last we see of them, but it’s disappointing that such an excellent book can’t find the sales numbers it needs to stay running.

Last week saw some very good books come out. Fantastic Four continues Jonathan Hickman’s incredible run, with new artist Steve Epting on-board with his stellar pencils. I was especially impressed by the scene with Doom, where it really dawned on me that Victor is a part of the family as much as anyone else. Sure, he’s the crazy uncle nobody talks about, but despite multiple murder attempts it’s clear that he’s as much a part of the family as Ben Grimm. Just not, you know….welcome.

Going into this issue Galactus is dead and Doom has lost his intellect. Are these hanging plot threads from Mark Millar’s run?

And speaking of Millar, I continue to be pleasantly surprised with Nemesis. The book has plenty of action, enough twists to keep me engaged, and the characters are in precarious enough positions that it doesn’t feel like one issue is going to be enough to wrap everything up. Knowing Millar, it will be just enough.

I’m running a day late due to a L.E.M.U.R. Comics Blog family reunion, as Matt and I sat around my living room talking comics rather than blogging about them. There are some really solid books out this week. New stuff to try, the conclusion of one of the best series of the 00’s, and more. Here’s what I’m looking at this week.

ALAN MOORE NEONOMICON #1 (OF 4) – I tend not to care about most books put out by Avatar. Creators tend to take the lack of editing (or maybe more accurately, standards and practices,) as a reason to come up with the most disgusting books they can. Still, a new mini by Alan Moore is cause for celebration, and I’ll probably be snagging this one.

ATLAS #3 – In light of last week’s new that Atlas will be ending with issue 5, if you haven’t read this yet, start with the first collections and pick this book up once it’s collected. I suspect this won’t be the last we see of our agents, though, since Jeff Parker will still be working in the Marvel Universe and he tends to bring his best characters with him.

BATMAN BEYOND #2 (OF 6) – I enjoyed the first issue, though I’m not really sure if this comic has legs. I’ll be picking up #2 to make sure.

SCOTT PILGRIM GN VOL 06 FINEST HOUR –

With the Scott Pilgrim movie almost here, Bryan Lee O’Malley gives us the final book of the Scott Pilgrim saga. So far each book has been better than the one before, so I’m expecting big things from this one.

TIME MASTERS VANISHING POINT #1 (OF 6) – I’m not sure if I’ll wind up picking this one up, but this kicks off the DCU side of Return of Bruce Wayne, and we’ll learn why Superman and Booster Gold are trying to stop Batman from returning to the present. Um, Clark? You can’t.

Thanks to everyone who came by to check out my piece on cover prices this weekend, and especially to everyone who’s commented. I hope we can make quite a conversation out of this.

As for this week’s comics…Well, there’s not much of note this week. And most of the noteworthy books are pretty pricey. Still, let’s dive in.

ASTRO CITY SILVER AGENT #1 (OF 2) – I’ve resolved to start talking more about Astro City. Maybe I shouldn’t since I don’t have a full run (or even most recent issues), but I know enough to remember that Silver Agent was Astro City’s greatest hero. It will be very cool to see him, even if for only 2 issues.

BATMAN #701 – More Morrison, that’s all I care about.

GORILLA MAN #1 (OF 3) – I can’t believe we had to wait for The Uranian and Namora to get their own books before Ken Hale, the Gorilla Man and hands-down greatest Agent of Atlas, to get his.

STUFF OF LEGEND THE JUNGLE #1 (OF 4) – The first Stuff of Legend book was terrific, and I’m glad to see there’s more on the way. Highly recommended if you’re looking for something different.

The biggest news of last week was how great the newest issue of Batman and Robin is. Morrison’s masterpiece is really building up now, and it’s incredible. Damian’s interactions with the Joker were
brilliantly accomplished, and Morrison really straddled the line between Batman of the past (the scenes with Dick and Commissioner Gordon reminded me of the 60’s TV show) and the future (the madness of
the Joker and Robin). This book was superbly done, and a lesson to anyone still writing 6-issue arcs of Batman versus generic gangsters.

I’ll close this week on a sad note, the passing of Harvey Pekar, of American Splendor fame. His was truly a unique voice in comics, and one that will be missed in comics.

It’s another short week, but that’s okay. I picked up TONS of killer quarter books from ComicFest yesterday so I’ve got plenty to read (West Coast Avengers, here I come!). Here’s what I’m looking at this week:

AVENGERS VS ATLAS #4 (OF 4) – And we come to the end of the time-spanning AoA vs Avengers crossover. It’s been cool to see our Agents meeting up with different eras of Avengers, and this is has been a great fill-in until the new Atlas series starts up.

GREEN LANTERN #53 – Post-Blackest Night, this is probably where we’ll see the most in terms of cosmic DCU after-shocks. I’m looking forward to it. For all of Johns’ recent shortcomings, they haven’t been on this title.

Which brings us, somehow, to last week. I was able to restrain myself from picking up Flash #1, but in spite of Matt’s unimpressed review and Chris Sims’ outright negative review I had to pick up Brightest Day #0 for myself. They’re both right, and the first page with it’s dead baby bird and precious use of the phrase “Brightest Day” should have been my first indication. The whole book is super-navel gazing not super-heroing, and while that works to some extent for a first issue, there’s no indication it’s going to get any better, just that we’re going to get another version of 52 starring Deadman. Thanks but no thanks.

I also have a problem with Johns’ version of Guy Gardner. At first I liked that he was still a jerk, but the good-hearted side shone through a little more. Now he’s just written like “Earnest Guy Gardner” from the JLI days, except not funny or ironic. Here was a character you hated, true, but he at least had his own personality different from anyone else in the DCU. Now he’s just like every other Lantern: sincere, dammit! And I think I’m going to pass from here on out.

AVENGERS VS ATLAS #3 (OF 4) – Any week with a new Atlas book is a week that I’m drooling for getting to the comic shop. Thank you Jeff Parker.BATMAN #697 – I wish I could stop getting this boring, boring book, but getting Batman every month is like breathing.JOE THE BARBARIAN #3 (OF 8 ) – I haven’t gotten the first issue yet so I haven’t read the second, but I’m really looking forward to sitting down with this and reading a big chunk of it. It’s been getting stellar reviews everywhere else.MARVEL BOY URANIAN #3 (OF 3) – I still maintain that this is one of those “throw it at the wall and see if it sticks” books Marvel’s been doing, but it’s sticking for me. This is the conclusion of the story of our weirdest agent of Atlas in the 1950’s, with some surprisingly good Golden Age reprints in the back. This proves Marvel CAN print a $4 book that gives us enough extra bang for our buck.MUPPET SHOW #3 – Oh, crud. The reminder that I haven’t sent Matt his copy of #2 yet, and I swore to myself I wouldn’t read it until I do. This is the other drool-worthy book of the week.SIEGE #3 (OF 4) – The first two issues of this were surprisingly good: fast-paced, full of action, and with a definite goal at the end. Hopefully this bookend can put the last 8 years of Marvel’s weirdness behind us.

I’ve read some really solid stuff the past week, including new comics! Ex Machina #48 isn’t the last issue after all, but it was the strongest in ages as Mitchell Hundred and his evil counterpart start getting closer and closer to each other. Weekly World News #3 is experiencing diminishing returns, as Ed Anger basically just crosses the country being a conservative hate-monger. We get it already. Based on the talk from the back of the book, more minis aren’t guaranteed. It would be nice to see more stories, but perhaps 3 issues each would be enough. Batman and Robin #10 was the hit of last week, kicking off the Return of Bruce Wayne with a new mystery that will tie in nicely with the “Batman Through the Ages” theme they’ll be doing. I find it a little hard to believe that with as many times as the manor has been destroyed that there are any secrets still hidden, but I’ll suspend that disbelief, even as I wish this story was in the main title rather than some dull “Long Halloween” rehash. I find myself amazed to start liking Damian, almost as amazed as I am that he’s liking being Robin.

I picked up the Ghost Riders: Heaven’s On Fire mini and was thrilled to see that Jason Aaron wrapped everything up very nicely. There’s too much coolness in there to go into in brief, but if you liked his run on the main series, this won’t disappoint.

It looks like Diamond may have moved their list of new releases. Either way, it’s out. Here’s what I’m looking at.

AVENGERS VS ATLAS #2 (OF 4) – How many different ways can I say that Jeff Parker’s Agents of Atlas books are the best comics on the stands? Apparently only one.BATMAN #696 – Whatever. Why can’t DC keep this book interesting???GREEN LANTERN #51 – Having just read issue #50, for once I feel like I’m up to speed for a new issue!STARMAN OMNIBUS HC VOL 04 – I feel like Starman would have benefitted from Absolute Editions rather than just thick hardcovers (especially for $50!), but these are pretty nice. Plus, it’ll let you get all caught up for Matt’s Annotations.WEEKLY WORLD NEWS #2 – I really enjoyed the first issue, so I’ll be picking this up. Ed Anger, Bat Boy, PhD Ape, and the cloud that looks like Satan. How can you go wrong?